Past agricultural mechanization efforts in Ghana and Nigeria have focused more on the styles of machinery used in western countries or Latin America, where average farm sizes are much larger. While West African countries, particularly Ghana, are still relatively land abundant compared to Bangladesh, seeking the right balance across various models is important for achieving mechanization growth across diverse types of farms. Learning from the experience of agricultural mechanization in Bangladesh offer useful inspirations toward how widespread mechanization growth can happen for smallholders in Ghana and Nigeria.

The contribution of chemical fertilizers towards increased agricultural production is well established. Indian agricultural policy focused on increasing productivity and modern inputs such as improved seeds (HYVs), irrigation, chemical fertilizers, etc. have played an important role in increasing crop production and productivity. Increased fertilizer use will continue to play an important role in increasing agricultural productivity given the diminishing land available for cultivation. Therefore, it is important to understand fertilizer use patterns and efficiency over time, the changing structure of fertilizer markets, the current policy environment and the role of various factors influencing fertilizer consumption. This brief is an attempt to address some of these issues

The agricultural sector plays a crucial role in Cambodia’s economy, and accounts for approximately 27.3 percent of GDP. Crop cultiva-tion on Cambodia’s 4 million ha of agricultural land has become more challenging with each passing year due to low soil fertility (White et al., 1997). Fertilizer application is crucial for nutrient replenishment, increased crop yield and elevated crop biomass which is necessary for moisture retention and nutrient efficiency (Bumb, 1996). Cambodia expects a large proportion of improved crop produc-tion to derive from increasing crop yields, and fertilizer is expected to play a major part in meeting future demands for crop intensifica-tion and greater food security (RGC 2010).

Nepal is a landlocked country, surrounded by India and China with long borders. All merchandise trade, including fertilize trade, is transited through India. Because of its geopolitical location and agroecological conditions, Nepal faces unique challenges in developing a well-functioning fertilizer market. The main objective of this policy brief is to highlight the difficulties a landlocked country faces in procuring fertilizers and the externalities it encounters from neighboring countries fertilizer polices in promoting efficient fertilizer use and supply.

Due to internal conflicts and civil war, the green revolution largely passed by Cambodia without having a significant effect on rice production. With an estimated population of 14.7 million, 80 percent of which are rural and most dependent on agriculture as their main source of income, rice productivity is of critical importance in a country where more than 30 percent of the population still lives below the national poverty line. The lift of the economic embargo on Cambodia in 1993 opened the country up to greater integration with the sub-regional, regional and global cooperation networks and has led to significant agricultural and economic progress. In addition, peace allowed for an expansion of cultivation area from 1.9 million hectares in 1990 to 3 million hectares today.

This policy brief will provide an analysis of the maize seed industry’s current state and future prospects, prefacing that with a review of the historical context under which it emerged. Lessons learned from this sector could have implications for the development of the seed industry in other developing countries.

Fertilizer use in Thailand has become an integral part of agriculture due to the declining availability of arable land and the increasing role of rice and other agricultural exports in the economy. Approximately 47 percent fertilizer is used on rice, production of which has increased from 13.4 million MT to 36 million MT from 1970 to 2010 coinciding with a rise in fertilizer consumption from .2 million MT to 2.6 million MT. However, Thailand has a limited supply of raw materials for fertilizer and therefore imports both raw materials and pre-compounded grades for domestic production and distribution. This brief reviews the Thai fertilizer sector and the changes in policy which have led to its growth.

Agriculture, including fisheries and forestry, accounted for 36.4 percent of Myanmar’s GDP in 2010-2011. Approximately 69 percent of the total population of 59.78 million (2010-2011) lives in rural areas and 61.2 percent of the total labor force is employed by the agricul-ture sector (MOAI 2012). The government has designated the agriculture sector as a main pillar of the economy and is dedicating vari-ous efforts and investments to achieve greater progress in the sector. Rice is the primary crop, followed by maize, pulses, and oil seeds. Over 90 percent of the total rice sown in Myanmar1 is done so by farmers’ reusing their seeds. Hybrid varieties of maize are grown more widely in part due to domestic hybrid production and imports. In recent years, there has also been an increase in the production of fruits and vegetables due to demand from China as well as the emergence of supermarkets in the country which has also increased the utilization of quality seeds and seedlings.

Approximately 70 percent of the population of Myanmar lives in rural areas and 60 percent of the workforce is involved in agriculture. It is estimated that agriculture contributes to 36 percent of the GDP and 20 percent of the foreign exchange earnings for Myanmar. While agriculture is important for growth in Myanmar, it is primarily rain-fed so agricultural growth is erratic. Due to small farm sizes, increasing food production is dependent on improved policies and technologies that can increase output per hectare. One of the main policy objectives of the Government of Myanmar is to increase food security and the quantity, quality, and variety of crops through partnerships and private sector investment. Improving the private sector participation in the trade and distribution of fertilizer has the potential to reduce fertilizer costs and increase their usage and thus improving farm productivity and food security.

This brief aims to identify the factors contributing to low certified seed use by evaluating the evolution of rice seed varieties, analyzing the trends in seed adoption, and describing the Philippine seed system and its regulatory structure. It concludes with a summary of these issues leading to key recommendations to improve and strengthen the rice seed industry.

Seed provision in Pakistan is experiencing tension as private entrepreneurs have been challenging the boundaries of the country’s ar-chaic regulatory structure. All key aspects of the system – licensing of seed producers, variety release procedures, access to public germplasm, quality control, intellectual property rights, and import and export –are governed by laws and regulations framed decades ago for a system then dominated by public sector enterprises. Since the early 1980s, the private seed business has grown but govern-ance has failed to keep pace. The failure of regulatory frameworks to evolve has constrained business activity, at least through official channels. Most actors, including some public sector enterprises, have on occasion found answers in the informal sector, which now mediates a substantial portion of the trade.

Nepal is a landlocked country with wide diversity of climatic conditions, ranging from temperate to tropical. Agriculture is the largest economic sector, contributing 35 percent to GDP and employing two thirds of the total population. Rice is the major staple crop, fol-lowed by maize, wheat, and pulses. These crops are spread across three ecological belts: Hills (42 percent of land area), Mountain (33 percent), and Terai (23 percent). Nepal, once self-sufficient in food, has become a net importer in recent years. Farm size has declined from 1.1 hectares in 1995/1996 to 0.7 hectares in 2010/2011, and 53 percent of households have less than 0.5 hectares. Although the agriculture sector is the most important for the sustainable development of Nepal, its growth rate is low, mainly because of low govern-ment investment. Despite the efforts to disseminate improved seeds, national yields of the three main cereal crops remain low: (rice 3.3 t/ha, wheat 2.4 t/ha, and maize 2.5 t/ha).

Although agriculture only contributes 20 percent to GDP in Vietnam, over 70 percent of the population relies on the sector. Rice is the most important crop in Vietnam accounting for 90 percent of total grain output. The agricultural sector has faced recent challenges due to urbanization and industrialization, as well as few opportunities for increasing cultivated land area. Increased crop yields through the use of chemical fertilizer is one of the few methods available for increasing agricultural output.

Indonesia is an archipelago consisting of 13,466 islands, which are divided into 33 provinces. Java, Bali, and Nusa Tenggara are the inner islands and contain 62 percent of the total population of 246 million, but only accounts for 8 percent of the total land area. The inner islands are naturally more fertile than the outer islands that have nutrient-poor, acidic soils. In theory, fertilizer use should be higher on the outer islands, but in reality outer island fertilizer use is generally lower, making crop yields lower, especially when compared to Java. There are approximately 15 million farmer households in Indonesia cultivating rice and 6.7 million cultivating maize. Approxi-mately 68 percent of rice farmers and 37 percent of maize farmers use chemical fertilizers, according to the 2009 Agriculture Census.

The Republic of Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked country where nearly 65 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Wheat is the staple crop in Kyrgyzstan; however, average wheat yields were just 2.4 metric tons (MT)/ha as of 2013, which is well below potential yield estimates of 5.5 MT/ ha. The country is classified by the UN FAO as a low-income, food-deficit country that relies on wheat imports from Kazakhstan and Russia to cover 25 percent of its consumption requirements. Agriculture contributes 20.8 percent of GDP and more than 1 million smallholder households are involved in the agriculture sector. Agriculture in the northern region of the country is more industrialized, with farm activities fully mechanized compared to the southern region. The south is highly populated, but the availability of arable land is limited.

The Philippines is an island nation, comprised of 7,107 islands that are split into 3 geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. In 2013, agriculture contributed 10.45 percent to GDP (PSA-NSCB, 2014) and 31 percent to employment (PSA-BLES, 2014). More im-portantly, its contribution to national and household food security is significant. Cereal production increased from 7.6 million tons in 1970 to 22.1 million tons in 2010. During the same period, fertilizer use increased from 201,000 nutrient tons to 771,000 nutrient tons (FAOSTAT). In promoting cereal production, especially rice production, increased fertilizer use, along with improved seeds and other agronomic practices, played a key role.

For the last three decades, Vietnam’s agricultural sector has undergone continuous and impressive change. Having recently transi-tioned from a planned economy, the private seed industry has only recently begun to emerge and the legislation which governs it is new. Policy reform, which began in 1981, culminated in 1988 with the liberalization of input and output marketing. These changes en-gendered institutional transformation and resulted in significant development of the agricultural sector, especially rice production. Paddy output increased from 12 million tons in 1980 to 44 million tons in 2012. Since 1989, Vietnam has been a rice exporter and in 1997 the country became the second largest rice exporter in the world. Current exports average 6-7 million tons per year.

Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System in Asia (ReSAKSS-Asia) is an initiative based on a multi-country regional network for informing current and future food and nutrition security strategies in the Asia region. The overall goal of ReSAKSS-Asia is to help fill key knowledge gaps, promote policy dialogue and sharing of lessons and experience across countries in the region, and establish a web-site portal to provide easy access to key information and knowledge on issue related to agricultural growth and improved food security and nutritional outcomes in the Asia region.